Directions: As a group, discuss and decide what Heath offers us through her work. Based on Heath’s findings regarding the differing “ways with words” of these communities and the work of the teachers in this region to meet the needs of the children from these different communities, what lessons can we as future and current teachers of writing take from her study? What do we need to be aware of and how can we address this based on what you’ve / we've read here? When time is called, you will present your ideas to the class.
Health's finding give us a good insight into the differences between the towns as well as the differences between black and white students. From the different towns students brought different cultural contexts and heritages that needed to be considered. Heath tells us how to use the dialects as well as what to look for in them. Having background knowledge of the communities where students live does help teachers to understand the culture of their students and to be able to work with them accordingly. We also can see some differences between how black students tend to work with teachers and what they respect as well as what white students are expecting and how to work with them.
Health's work shows teachers ways to work with the differences between students and with different cultures. The work encourages teachers to work with students to give them agency in the classroom. The work shows how to verify experiences of students and using them to bridge gaps. For instance, the rap and race examples that give students a way to see how aspects of their culture in connection with the academic. Another example was that teachers can assign students to be researchers within their own communities so that they can see their own culture in connection with the wider world. It also discusses the concept of formal or standard English and how to work with it, within the context of a linguistically diverse group of students.
Directions: As a group, discuss and decide what Heath offers us through her work. Based on Heath’s findings regarding the differing “ways with words” of these communities and the work of the teachers in this region to meet the needs of the children from these different communities, what lessons can we as future and current teachers of writing take from her study? What do we need to be aware of and how can we address this based on what you’ve / we've read here? When time is called, you will present your ideas to the class.
Health's finding give us a good insight into the differences between the towns as well as the differences between black and white students. From the different towns students brought different cultural contexts and heritages that needed to be considered. Heath tells us how to use the dialects as well as what to look for in them. Having background knowledge of the communities where students live does help teachers to understand the culture of their students and to be able to work with them accordingly. We also can see some differences between how black students tend to work with teachers and what they respect as well as what white students are expecting and how to work with them.
Health's work shows teachers ways to work with the differences between students and with different cultures. The work encourages teachers to work with students to give them agency in the classroom. The work shows how to verify experiences of students and using them to bridge gaps. For instance, the rap and race examples that give students a way to see how aspects of their culture in connection with the academic. Another example was that teachers can assign students to be researchers within their own communities so that they can see their own culture in connection with the wider world. It also discusses the concept of formal or standard English and how to work with it, within the context of a linguistically diverse group of students.